There is an increasing need to dispense medicaments to individuals in pharmacies, hospitals, health centres and the like, in a safe, efficient and cost effective manner. Currently, medication errors can result from confusion over “look-alike” or “sound-alike” product names. If patients receive an incorrect drug or dosage, these errors can result in serious harm to the patient. One common cause of confusion is from a name mix-up, caused by what human factors experts call “confirmation bias”, where a practitioner reads a poorly written drug name and is most likely to see in that name that which is most familiar to him;—overlooking any disconfirming evidence.
The modern pharmacy practice therefore requires equipment and record keeping capabilities in order to enhance the safe and accurate dispensing of prescriptions. However, recently, there is the desire to also provide pharmacy services to the public, without a pharmacist being physically present. This is a process that creates the need to provide a safe and efficient communication tool for the pharmacist, in order that he/she can remotely supervise the prescription filling procedures.